Aryabhata

Aryabhata (IAST: Āryabhaṭa; Sanskrit: आर्यभटः) (476–550 CE) was the first in the line of great
mathematician-astronomers from the classical age of Indian mathematics and Indian astronomy.
His most famous works are the Aryabhatiya (499 CE, when he was 23 years old) and the Arya-
siddhanta.

Contents

Biography

Name

While there is a tendency to misspell his name as "Aryabhatta" by analogy with other names
having the "bhatta" suffix, his name is properly spelled Aryabhata: every astronomical text spells
his name thus,[1] including Brahmagupta's references to him "in more than a hundred places by
name".[2] Furthermore, in most instances "Aryabhatta" does not fit the metre either.[1]

Birth

Aryabhata mentions in the Aryabhatiya that it was composed 3,600 years into the Kali Yuga,
when he was 23 years old. This corresponds to 499 CE, and implies that he was born in 476 CE.
[1]

Aryabhata provides no information about his place of birth. The only information comes from
Bhāskara I, who describes Aryabhata as āśmakīya, "one belonging to the aśmaka country."
While aśmaka was originally situated in the northwest of India, it is widely attested that, during
the Buddha's time, a branch of the Aśmaka people settled in the region between the Narmada and
Godavari rivers, in the South Gujarat–North Maharashtra region of central India. Aryabhata is
believed to have been born there.[1][3] However, early Buddhist texts describe Ashmaka as being
further south, in dakshinapath or the Deccan, while other texts describe the Ashmakas as having
fought Alexander, which would put them further north.[3]

Work

It is fairly certain that, at some point, he went to Kusumapura for advanced studies and that he
lived there for some time.[4] Both Hindu and Buddhist tradition, as well as Bhāskara I (CE 629),
identify Kusumapura as Pāṭaliputra, modern Patna.[1] A verse mentions that Aryabhata was the
head of an institution (kulapa) at Kusumapura, and, because the university of Nalanda was in
Pataliputra at the time and had an astronomical observatory, it is speculated that Aryabhata might
have been the head of the Nalanda university as well.[1] Aryabhata is also reputed to have set up
an observatory at the Sun temple in Taregana, Bihar.[5]

Other hypotheses
It was suggested that Aryabhata may have been from Kerala, but K. V. Sarma, an authority on
Kerala's astronomical tradition, disagreed[1] and pointed out several errors in this hypothesis.[6]

Aryabhata mentions "Lanka" on several occasions in the Aryabhatiya, but his "Lanka" is an
abstraction, standing for a point on the equator at the same longitude as his Ujjayini.[7]

Works
Aryabhata is the author of several treatises on mathematics and astronomy, some of which are
lost. His major work, Aryabhatiya, a compendium of mathematics and astronomy, was
extensively referred to in the Indian mathematical literature and has survived to modern times.
The mathematical part of the Aryabhatiya covers arithmetic, algebra, plane trigonometry, and
spherical trigonometry. It also contains continued fractions, quadratic equations, sums-of-power
series, and a table of sines.

The Arya-siddhanta, a lost work on astronomical computations, is known through the writings of
Aryabhata's contemporary, Varahamihira, and later mathematicians and commentators, including
Brahmagupta and Bhaskara I. This work appears to be based on the older Surya Siddhanta and
uses the midnight-day reckoning, as opposed to sunrise in Aryabhatiya. It also contained a
description of several astronomical instruments: the gnomon (shanku-yantra), a shadow
instrument (chhAyA-yantra), possibly angle-measuring devices, semicircular and circular
(dhanur-yantra / chakra-yantra), a cylindrical stick yasti-yantra, an umbrella-shaped device
called the chhatra-yantra, and water clocks of at least two types, bow-shaped and cylindrical.[3]

A third text, which may have survived in the Arabic translation, is Al ntf or Al-nanf. It claims that
it is a translation by Aryabhata, but the Sanskrit name of this work is not known. Probably dating
from the 9th century, it is mentioned by the Persian scholar and chronicler of India, Abū Rayhān
al-Bīrūnī.[3]

Aryabhatiya

Direct details of Aryabhata's work are known only from the Aryabhatiya. The name
"Aryabhatiya" is due to later commentators. Aryabhata himself may not have given it a name.
His disciple Bhaskara I calls it Ashmakatantra (or the treatise from the Ashmaka). It is also
occasionally referred to as Arya-shatas-aShTa (literally, Aryabhata's 108), because there are 108
verses in the text. It is written in the very terse style typical of sutra literature, in which each line
is an aid to memory for a complex system. Thus, the explication of meaning is due to
commentators. The text consists of the 108 verses and 13 introductory verses, and is divided into
four pādas or chapters:

1. Gitikapada: (13 verses): large units of time—kalpa, manvantra, and yuga—which

present a cosmology different from earlier texts such as Lagadha's Vedanga Jyotisha(ca.
1st century BCE). There is also a table of sines (jya), given in a single verse. The duration
of the planetary revolutions during a mahayuga is given as 4.32 million years.
 2. Ganitapada (33 verses): covering mensuration (kṣetra vyāvahāra), arithmetic and
geometric progressions, gnomon / shadows (shanku-chhAyA), simple, quadratic,
simultaneous, and indeterminate equations (kuTTaka)
3. Kalakriyapada (25 verses): different units of time and a method for determining the
positions of planets for a given day, calculations concerning the intercalary month
(adhikamAsa), kShaya-tithis, and a seven-day week with names for the days of week.
4. Golapada (50 verses): Geometric/trigonometric aspects of the celestial sphere, features of
the ecliptic, celestial equator, node, shape of the earth, cause of day and night, rising of
zodiacal signs on horizon, etc. In addition, some versions cite a few colophons added at
the end, extolling the virtues of the work, etc.

The Aryabhatiya presented a number of innovations in mathematics and astronomy in verse

form, which were influential for many centuries. The extreme brevity of the text was elaborated
in commentaries by his disciple Bhaskara I (Bhashya, ca. 600 CE) and by Nilakantha Somayaji
in his Aryabhatiya Bhasya, (1465 CE).

Mathematics
Place value system and zero

The place-value system, first seen in the 3rd century Bakhshali Manuscript, was clearly in place
in his work. While he did not use a symbol for zero, the French mathematician Georges Ifrah
argues that knowledge of zero was implicit in Aryabhata's place-value system as a place holder
for the powers of ten with null coefficients[8]

However, Aryabhata did not use the brahmi numerals. Continuing the Sanskritic tradition from
Vedic times, he used letters of the alphabet to denote numbers, expressing quantities, such as the
table of sines in a mnemonic form.[9]

Pi as irrational

Aryabhata worked on the approximation for Pi (π), and may have come to the conclusion that π
is irrational. In the second part of the Aryabhatiyam (gaṇitapāda 10), he writes:

caturadhikam śatamaṣṭaguṇam dvāṣaṣṭistathā sahasrāṇām

ayutadvayaviṣkambhasyāsanno vṛttapariṇāhaḥ.
"Add four to 100, multiply by eight, and then add 62,000. By this rule the circumference of a
circle with a diameter of 20,000 can be approached."[10]

This implies that the ratio of the circumference to the diameter is ((4+100)×8+62000)/20000 =
62832/20000 = 3.1416, which is accurate to five significant figures.

It is speculated that Aryabhata used the word āsanna (approaching), to mean that not only is this
an approximation but that the value is incommensurable (or irrational). If this is correct, it is
quite a sophisticated insight, because the irrationality of pi was proved in Europe only in 1761 by
Lambert).[11]

After Aryabhatiya was translated into Arabic (ca. 820 CE) this approximation was mentioned in
Al-Khwarizmi's book on algebra.[3]

Mensuration and trigonometry

In Ganitapada 6, Aryabhata gives the area of a triangle as

tribhujasya phalashariram samadalakoti bhujardhasamvargah

that translates to: "for a triangle, the result of a perpendicular with the half-side is the area."[12]

Aryabhata discussed the concept of sine in his work by the name of ardha-jya. Literally, it means
"half-chord". For simplicity, people started calling it jya. When Arabic writers translated his
works from Sanskrit into Arabic, they referred it as jiba. However, in Arabic writings, vowels
are omitted, and it was abbreviated as jb. Later writers substituted it with jiab, meaning "cove" or
"bay." (In Arabic, jiba is a meaningless word.) Later in the 12th century, when Gherardo of
Cremona translated these writings from Arabic into Latin, he replaced the Arabic jiab with its
Latin counterpart, sinus, which means "cove" or "bay". And after that, the sinus became sine in
English.[13]

Indeterminate equations

A problem of great interest to Indian mathematicians since ancient times has been to find integer
solutions to equations that have the form ax + b = cy, a topic that has come to be known as
diophantine equations. This is an example from Bhāskara's commentary on Aryabhatiya:

Find the number which gives 5 as the remainder when divided by 8, 4 as the remainder
when divided by 9, and 1 as the remainder when divided by 7

That is, find N = 8x+5 = 9y+4 = 7z+1. It turns out that the smallest value for N is 85. In general,
diophantine equations, such as this, can be notoriously difficult. They were discussed extensively
in ancient Vedic text Sulba Sutras, whose more ancient parts might date to 800 BCE. Aryabhata's
method of solving such problems is called the kuṭṭaka (कुट्टक) method. Kuttaka means
"pulverizing" or "breaking into small pieces", and the method involves a recursive algorithm for
writing the original factors in smaller numbers. Today this algorithm, elaborated by Bhaskara in
621 CE, is the standard method for solving first-order diophantine equations and is often referred
to as the Aryabhata algorithm.[14] The diophantine equations are of interest in cryptology, and the
RSA Conference, 2006, focused on the kuttaka method and earlier work in the Sulvasutras.

Algebra
In Aryabhatiya Aryabhata provided elegant results for the summation of series of squares and
cubes:[15]

and

Astronomy
Aryabhata's system of astronomy was called the audAyaka system, in which days are reckoned
from uday, dawn at lanka or "equator". Some of his later writings on astronomy, which
apparently proposed a second model (or ardha-rAtrikA, midnight) are lost but can be partly
reconstructed from the discussion in Brahmagupta's khanDakhAdyaka. In some texts, he seems
to ascribe the apparent motions of the heavens to the Earth's rotation. He also treated the planet's
orbits as elliptical rather than circular.[16][17]

Motions of the solar system

Aryabhata appears to have believed that the earth rotates about its axis. This is indicated in the
statement, referring to Lanka , which describes the movement of the stars as a relative motion
caused by the rotation of the earth:

"Like a man in a boat moving forward sees the stationary objects as moving backward,
just so are the stationary stars seen by the people in Lanka (or on the equator) as moving
exactly towards the west." [achalAni bhAni samapashchimagAni – golapAda.9]

But the next verse describes the motion of the stars and planets as real movements: "The cause of
their rising and setting is due to the fact that the circle of the asterisms, together with the planets
driven by the provector wind, constantly moves westwards at Lanka."

As mentioned above, Lanka (lit. Sri Lanka) is here a reference point on the equator, which was
the equivalent of the reference meridian for astronomical calculations.

Aryabhata described a geocentric model of the solar system, in which the Sun and Moon are
each carried by epicycles. They in turn revolve around the Earth. In this model, which is also
found in the Paitāmahasiddhānta (ca. CE 425), the motions of the planets are each governed by
two epicycles, a smaller manda (slow) and a larger śīghra (fast). [18] The order of the planets in
terms of distance from earth is taken as: the Moon, Mercury, Venus, the Sun, Mars, Jupiter,
Saturn, and the asterisms."[3]

The positions and periods of the planets was calculated relative to uniformly moving points. In
the case of Mercury and Venus, they move around the Earth at the same speed as the mean Sun.
In the case of Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn, they move around the Earth at specific speeds,
representing each planet's motion through the zodiac. Most historians of astronomy consider that
this two-epicycle model reflects elements of pre-Ptolemaic Greek astronomy.[19] Another element
in Aryabhata's model, the śīghrocca, the basic planetary period in relation to the Sun, is seen by
some historians as a sign of an underlying heliocentric model.[20]

Eclipses

Aryabhata states that the Moon and planets shine by reflected sunlight. Instead of the prevailing
cosmogony in which eclipses were caused by pseudo-planetary nodes Rahu and Ketu, he
explains eclipses in terms of shadows cast by and falling on Earth. Thus, the lunar eclipse occurs
when the moon enters into the Earth's shadow (verse gola.37). He discusses at length the size and
extent of the Earth's shadow (verses gola.38–48) and then provides the computation and the size
of the eclipsed part during an eclipse. Later Indian astronomers improved on the calculations, but
Aryabhata's methods provided the core. His computational paradigm was so accurate that 18th
century scientist Guillaume Le Gentil, during a visit to Pondicherry, India, found the Indian
computations of the duration of the lunar eclipse of 30 August 1765 to be short by 41 seconds,
whereas his charts (by Tobias Mayer, 1752) were long by 68 seconds.[3]

Aryabhata's computation of the Earth's circumference as 39,968.0582 kilometres was only 0.2%
smaller than the actual value of 40,075.0167 kilometres. This approximation was a significant
improvement over the computation by Greek mathematician Eratosthenes (c. 200 BCE), whose
exact computation is not known in modern units but his estimate had an error of around 5–10%.
[21][22]

Sidereal periods

Considered in modern English units of time, Aryabhata calculated the sidereal rotation (the
rotation of the earth referencing the fixed stars) as 23 hours, 56 minutes, and 4.1 seconds; the
modern value is 23:56:4.091. Similarly, his value for the length of the sidereal year at 365 days,
6 hours, 12 minutes, and 30 seconds is an error of 3 minutes and 20 seconds over the length of a
year. The notion of sidereal time was known in most other astronomical systems of the time, but
this computation was likely the most accurate of the period.[citation needed]

Heliocentrism

As mentioned, Aryabhata claimed that the Earth turns on its own axis, and some elements of his
planetary epicyclic models rotate at the same speed as the motion of the Earth around the Sun.
The planetary orbits were also given with respect to the Sun and he also states: "Whoever knows
this Dasagitika Sutra which describes the movements of the Earth and the planets in the sphere
of the asterisms passes through the paths of the planets and asterisms and goes to the higher
Brahman." Thus, it has been suggested that Aryabhata's calculations were based on an
underlying heliocentric model, in which the planets orbit the Sun.[23][24][25] A detailed rebuttal to
this heliocentric interpretation is in a review that describes B. L. van der Waerden's book as
"show[ing] a complete misunderstanding of Indian planetary theory [that] is flatly contradicted
by every word of Aryabhata's description."[26] However, some concede that Aryabhata's system
stems from an earlier heliocentric model, of which he was unaware.[27] Though Aristarchus of
Samos (3rd century BCE) is credited with holding an heliocentric theory, the version of Greek
astronomy known in ancient India as the Paulisa Siddhanta makes no reference to such a theory.

Legacy
Aryabhata's work was of great influence in the Indian astronomical tradition and influenced
several neighbouring cultures through translations. The Arabic translation during the Islamic
Golden Age (ca. 820 CE), was particularly influential. Some of his results are cited by Al-
Khwarizmi and in the 10th century Al-Biruni stated that Aryabhata's followers believed that the
Earth rotated on its axis.

His definitions of sine (jya), cosine (kojya), versine (utkrama-jya), and inverse sine (otkram jya)
influenced the birth of trigonometry. He was also the first to specify sine and versine (1 − cos x)
tables, in 3.75° intervals from 0° to 90°, to an accuracy of 4 decimal places.

In fact, modern names "sine" and "cosine" are mistranscriptions of the words jya and kojya as
introduced by Aryabhata. As mentioned, they were translated as jiba and kojiba in Arabic and
then misunderstood by Gerard of Cremona while translating an Arabic geometry text to Latin.
He assumed that jiba was the Arabic word jaib, which means "fold in a garment", L. sinus
(c.1150).[28]

Aryabhata's astronomical calculation methods were also very influential. Along with the
trigonometric tables, they came to be widely used in the Islamic world and used to compute
many Arabic astronomical tables (zijes). In particular, the astronomical tables in the work of the
Arabic Spain scientist Al-Zarqali (11th century) were translated into Latin as the Tables of
Toledo (12th c.) and remained the most accurate ephemeris used in Europe for centuries.

Calendric calculations devised by Aryabhata and his followers have been in continuous use in
India for the practical purposes of fixing the Panchangam (the Hindu calendar). In the Islamic
world, they formed the basis of the Jalali calendar introduced in 1073 CE by a group of
astronomers including Omar Khayyam,[29] versions of which (modified in 1925) are the national
calendars in use in Iran and Afghanistan today. The dates of the Jalali calendar are based on
actual solar transit, as in Aryabhata and earlier Siddhanta calendars. This type of calendar
requires an ephemeris for calculating dates. Although dates were difficult to compute, seasonal
errors were less in the Jalali calendar than in the Gregorian calendar.

India's first satellite Aryabhata and the lunar crater Aryabhata are named in his honour. An
Institute for conducting research in astronomy, astrophysics and atmospheric sciences is the
Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences (ARIES) near Nainital, India. The inter-
school Aryabhata Maths Competition is also named after him,[30] as is Bacillus aryabhata, a
species of bacteria discovered by ISRO scientists in 2009.[31]
Bhāskara II

Bhaskara[1] (Marathi: भास्कर, Kannada: ಭಾಸ್ಕರಾಚಾರ್ಯ) (1114–1185), also known as Bhaskara

II and Bhaskara Achārya ("Bhaskara the teacher"), was an Indian mathematician and an
astronomer. He was born near Bijjada Bida which is in present day Bijapur district, Karnataka,
India. Bhaskara was the head of an astronomical observatory at Ujjain, the leading mathematical
center of ancient India. His predecessors in this post had included both the noted Indian
mathematicians Brahmagupta and Varahamihira. He lived in the Sahyadri region.[1]

Bhaskara and his works represent a significant contribution to mathematical and astronomical
knowledge in the 12th century. He has been called the greatest mathematician of medieval India.
[2]
His main work was the Siddhanta Siromani which is divided in to four parts called Lilavati ,
Bijaganita, Grahaganita and Goladhyaya.[3] Siddhanta Siromani is Sanskrit for "Crown of
treatises".[4] The English translations of four titles are "Dealing with Arithmetic", Algebra,
"Mathematics of the planets" and Sphere respectively.

Bhaskara's work on calculus predates Newton and Leibniz by half a millenium.[5][6] He is

particularly known in the discovery of the principles of differential calculus and its application to
astronomical problems and computations. While Newton and Leibniz have been credited with
differential and integral calculus, there is strong evidence to suggest that Bhaskara was a pioneer
in some of the principles of differential calculus. He was perhaps the first to conceive the
differential coefficient and differential calculus.[7]

Contents
Family
Bhaskara was born into a family belonging to the Deshastha Brahmin community.[8] History
records his great-great-great-grandfather holding a hereditary post as a court scholar, as did his
son and other descendants. His father Mahesvara[1] was as an astrologer, who taught him
mathematics, which he later passed on to his son Loksamudra. Loksamudra's son helped to set up
a school in 1207 for the study of Bhāskara's writings.[9]

Mathematics
Some of Bhaskara's contributions to mathematics include the following:
  A proof of the Pythagorean theorem by calculating the same area in two different ways
and then canceling out terms to get a² + b² = c².

 In Lilavati, solutions of quadratic, cubic and quartic indeterminate equations.

 Solutions of indeterminate quadratic equations (of the type ax² + b = y²).

 Integer solutions of linear and quadratic indeterminate equations (Kuttaka). The rules he
gives are (in effect) the same as those given by the Renaissance European
mathematicians of the 17th century

 A cyclic Chakravala method for solving indeterminate equations of the form ax² + bx + c
= y. The solution to this equation was traditionally attributed to William Brouncker in
1657, though his method was more difficult than the chakravala method.

 The first general method for finding the solutions of the problem x² − ny² = 1 (so-called
"Pell's equation") was given by Bhaskara II.[10]

 Solutions of Diophantine equations of the second order, such as 61x² + 1 = y². This very
equation was posed as a problem in 1657 by the French mathematician Pierre de Fermat,
but its solution was unknown in Europe until the time of Euler in the 18th century.

 Solved quadratic equations with more than one unknown, and found negative and
irrational solutions.

 Preliminary concept of mathematical analysis.

 Preliminary concept of infinitesimal calculus, along with notable contributions towards

integral calculus.

 Conceived differential calculus, after discovering the derivative and differential

coefficient.

 Stated Rolle's theorem, a special case of one of the most important theorems in analysis,
the mean value theorem. Traces of the general mean value theorem are also found in his
works.

 Calculated the derivatives of trigonometric functions and formulae. (See Calculus section
below.)

 In Siddhanta Shiromani, Bhaskara developed spherical trigonometry along with a number

of other trigonometric results. (See Trigonometry section below.)

Arithmetic
Bhaskara's arithmetic text Lilavati covers the topics of definitions, arithmetical terms, interest
computation, arithmetical and geometrical progressions, plane geometry, solid geometry, the
shadow of the gnomon, methods to solve indeterminate equations, and combinations.

Lilavati is divided into 13 chapters and covers many branches of mathematics, arithmetic,
algebra, geometry, and a little trigonometry and mensuration. More specifically the contents
include:

 Definitions.
 Properties of zero (including division, and rules of operations with zero).
 Further extensive numerical work, including use of negative numbers and surds.
 Estimation of π.
 Arithmetical terms, methods of multiplication, and squaring.
 Inverse rule of three, and rules of 3, 5, 7, 9, and 11.
 Problems involving interest and interest computation.
 Arithmetical and geometrical progressions.
 Plane (geometry).
 Solid geometry.
 Permutations and combinations.
 Indeterminate equations (Kuttaka), integer solutions (first and second order). His
contributions to this topic are particularly important, since the rules he gives are (in
effect) the same as those given by the renaissance European mathematicians of the 17th
century, yet his work was of the 12th century. Bhaskara's method of solving was an
improvement of the methods found in the work of Aryabhata and subsequent
mathematicians.

His work is outstanding for its systemisation, improved methods and the new topics that he has
introduced. Furthermore the Lilavati contained excellent recreative problems and it is thought
that Bhaskara's intention may have been that a student of 'Lilavati' should concern himself with
the mechanical application of the method.

Algebra

His Bijaganita ("Algebra") was a work in twelve chapters. It was the first text to recognize that a
positive number has two square roots (a positive and negative square root). His work Bijaganita
is effectively a treatise on algebra and contains the following topics:

 Positive and negative numbers.

 Zero.
 The 'unknown' (includes determining unknown quantities).
 Determining unknown quantities.
 Surds (includes evaluating surds).
 Kuttaka (for solving indeterminate equations and Diophantine equations).
 Simple equations (indeterminate of second, third and fourth degree).
 Simple equations with more than one unknown.
  Indeterminate quadratic equations (of the type ax² + b = y²).
 Solutions of indeterminate equations of the second, third and fourth degree.
 Quadratic equations.
 Quadratic equations with more than one unknown.
 Operations with products of several unknowns.

Bhaskara derived a cyclic, chakravala method for solving indeterminate quadratic equations of
the form ax² + bx + c = y. Bhaskara's method for finding the solutions of the problem Nx² + 1 =
y² (the so-called "Pell's equation") is of considerable importance.[10]

He gave the general solutions of:

 Pell's equation using the chakravala method.

 The indeterminate quadratic equation using the chakravala method.

He also solved[citation needed]:

 Cubic equations.
 Quartic equations.
 Indeterminate cubic equations.
 Indeterminate quartic equations.
 Indeterminate higher-order polynomial equations.

Trigonometry

The Siddhanta Shiromani (written in 1150) demonstrates Bhaskara's knowledge of trigonometry,

including the sine table and relationships between different trigonometric functions. He also
discovered spherical trigonometry, along with other interesting trigonometrical results. In
particular Bhaskara seemed more interested in trigonometry for its own sake than his
predecessors who saw it only as a tool for calculation. Among the many interesting results given
by Bhaskara, discoveries first found in his works include the now well known results for
and :

Calculus

His work, the Siddhanta Shiromani, is an astronomical treatise and contains many theories not
found in earlier works. Preliminary concepts of infinitesimal calculus and mathematical analysis,
along with a number of results in trigonometry, differential calculus and integral calculus that are
found in the work are of particular interest.

Evidence suggests Bhaskara was acquainted with some ideas of differential calculus. It seems,
however, that he did not understand the utility of his researches, and thus historians of
mathematics generally neglect this achievement. Bhaskara also goes deeper into the 'differential
calculus' and suggests the differential coefficient vanishes at an extremum value of the function,
indicating knowledge of the concept of 'infinitesimals'.[11]
  There is evidence of an early form of Rolle's theorem in his work:
o If then for some with

 He gave the result that if then , thereby

finding the derivative of sine, although he never developed the notion of derivatives.[12]
o Bhaskara uses this result to work out the position angle of the ecliptic, a quantity
required for accurately predicting the time of an eclipse.

 In computing the instantaneous motion of a planet, the time interval between successive
positions of the planets was no greater than a truti, or a 1⁄33750 of a second, and his
measure of velocity was expressed in this infinitesimal unit of time.

 He was aware that when a variable attains the maximum value, its differential vanishes.

 He also showed that when a planet is at its farthest from the earth, or at its closest, the
equation of the centre (measure of how far a planet is from the position in which it is
predicted to be, by assuming it is to move uniformly) vanishes. He therefore concluded
that for some intermediate position the differential of the equation of the centre is equal
to zero. In this result, there are traces of the general mean value theorem, one of the most
important theorems in analysis, which today is usually derived from Rolle's theorem. The
mean value theorem was later found by Parameshvara in the 15th century in the Lilavati
Bhasya, a commentary on Bhaskara's Lilavati.

Madhava (1340–1425) and the Kerala School mathematicians (including Parameshvara) from the
14th century to the 16th century expanded on Bhaskara's work and further advanced the
development of calculus in India.

Astronomy
Using an astronomical model developed by Brahmagupta in the 7th century, Bhaskara accurately
defined many astronomical quantities, including, for example, the length of the sidereal year, the
time that is required for the Earth to orbit the Sun, as 365.2588 days[citation needed] which is same as
in Suryasiddhanta. The modern accepted measurement is 365.2563 days, a difference of just 3.5
minutes.

His mathematical astronomy text Siddhanta Shiromani is written in two parts: the first part on
mathematical astronomy and the second part on the sphere.

The twelve chapters of the first part cover topics such as:

 Mean longitudes of the planets.

 True longitudes of the planets.
 The three problems of diurnal rotation.
 Syzygies.
  Lunar eclipses.
 Solar eclipses.
 Latitudes of the planets.
 Sunrise equation
 The Moon's crescent.
 Conjunctions of the planets with each other.
 Conjunctions of the planets with the fixed stars.
 The patas of the Sun and Moon.

The second part contains thirteen chapters on the sphere. It covers topics such as:

 Praise of study of the sphere.

 Nature of the sphere.
 Cosmography and geography.
 Planetary mean motion.
 Eccentric epicyclic model of the planets.
 The armillary sphere.
 Spherical trigonometry.
 Ellipse calculations.[citation needed]
 First visibilities of the planets.
 Calculating the lunar crescent.
 Astronomical instruments.
 The seasons.
 Problems of astronomical calculations.

Engineering
The earliest reference to a perpetual motion machine date back to 1150, when Bhāskara II
described a wheel that he claimed would run forever.[13]

Bhāskara II used a measuring device known as Yasti-yantra. This device could vary from a
simple stick to V-shaped staffs designed specifically for determining angles with the help of a
calibrated scale.[14]

Legends
His book on arithmetic is the source of interesting legends that assert that it was written for his
daughter, Lilavati. In one of these stories, which is found in a Persian translation of Lilavati,
Bhaskara II studied Lilavati's horoscope and predicted that her husband would die soon after the
marriage if the marriage did not take place at a particular time. To alert his daughter at the
correct time, he placed a cup with a small hole at the bottom of a vessel filled with water,
arranged so that the cup would sink at the beginning of the propitious hour. He put the device in
a room with a warning to Lilavati to not go near it. In her curiosity though, she went to look at
the device and a pearl from her nose ring accidentally dropped into it, thus upsetting it. The
marriage took place at the wrong time and she was soon widowed.

Bhaskara II conceived the modern mathematical convention that when a finite number is divided
by zero, the result is infinity. In his book Lilavati, he reasons: "In this quantity also which has
zero as its divisor there is no change even when many [quantities] have entered into it or come
out [of it], just as at the time of destruction and creation when throngs of creatures enter into and
come out of [him, there is no change in] the infinite and unchanging [Vishnu]".[15]